Joanna Hogg’s cinema is most definitely for acquired tastes. I’m more inclined to like her earlier stuff, like “Exhibition,” and “Archipelago,” but she really broke through with the ‘Souvenir’ movies — that second one was quite good, actually.
Hogg is back, premiering her latest film “The Eternal Daughter,” at Venice. The embargo just broke, and the reviews are not as good as both ‘Souvenir’ films but sustainably positive. THR and Variety are mixed on it. David Ehrlich, a Hogg super fan, gives it a B+ in his IndieWire review.
This won’t break barriers like her previous two films. It will probably be just as distancing an experience for regular audiences as any other Joanna Hogg film. I’m set to catch it at TIFF next week.
I wrote back at Cannes 2021:
One thing some detractors of “The Souvenir” films may not get, or maybe they do and just don’t care, is that they purposely meander. Every mundane gesture or stilted silence in these two chapters seems to come straight from the personal experiences of its director Joanna Hogg. That may not be enough to convince some that these are a great set of movies, but, hey, at least those naysayers can understand what all the fuss is about and why critics are gushing non-stop over them.
The British filmmaker is once again reuniting with Tilda Swinton for the A24-produced “The Eternal Daughter.” This latest film is said to be a ghost story — shot in secret during lockdown — and produced by Martin Scorsese. Following a middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother who must confront long-buried secrets of their past, this one is sure to be a true original.
Before practically going bankrupt, Row K had planned to release "Cliffhanger" in August 2026 on more than 3000 screens nationwide — hopefully with Vertical it hits as many theaters.